


The Fall of the Smartillion

by Bibliothecarian



Series: Courts of Bibliotheca [1]
Category: Courts of Bibliotheca, No Fandom, Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21867769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bibliothecarian/pseuds/Bibliothecarian
Summary: Based on an inside joke that eventually became its own thing.
Series: Courts of Bibliotheca [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575430





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work in progress! I'll delete this note when it's finished.

Cavnos, the god of creation, looked down upon his divine court. Various individuals of high ranks were situated in rows of seats, circling around the large center stage. In his shapeless form, a seemingly infinite skyscape of distant lightning, Cavnos was able to observe the court in its entirety, and the one who would be tried, the Smartillion.

The Smartillion, deft and cunning in both voice and movement, was placed on trial by his superior, Inanis, the evil god of ruin, for many acts of extreme lawlessness and other crimes within his domain. Smartillion, created for Inanis as an advisor, was much too spiteful and needlessly cruel towards the realm of mortals. This eventually caused Inanis to view him as a chaotic liability to the point of invoking the judgement of the grand eternal deity, Cavnos, to prove a point to the Smartillion that even the very incarnation of evil has certain standards to uphold.

Inanis, the god of ruin, was thusly present, however, he was in his sealed form, taking the shape of an elderly man with a cane and long flowing robes of the deepest crimson, his eyes coarsed with an endless latent power, glaring at the Smartillion. With a thunderous crash that shook the divine court, Cavnos spoke.

“AS IT HAS BEEN DECIDED BY THE COURTS, SO SHALL IT BE. JURISDICTION IS FINAL; DIVINE JUDGEMENT WILL NOT BE IMPEDED...” The god of creation boomed from a voice that seemingly came from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“...SMARTILLION, YOU ARE HEREBY BANISHED FROM THE REALM OF THE GODS INDEFINITELY. THERE WILL BE NO DISCOURSE OF ANY KIND IN THE MATTER. ANY AND ALL ATTEMPTS TO BREACH IT WILL BE MET WITH DIVINE FORCE.”

The Smartillion did not perform the ceremonial closing bow with the other members of the court. 

“This must be some sort of heresy!” The Smartillion screamed “I will not stand for this! You, the whole lot of you, will rue the day you banished the likes of me! Even you, Cavnos-”

“SILENCE, INSOLENT ONE.” The god interrupted. “THE CENTURIONS WILL NOW ESCORT YOU FROM THE COURT GROUNDS.”

From the skies came down large machines, similar to that of massive airships. From each centurion’s underside, ropes of heavy chains were produced, aimed at the center of the court, trapping the Smartillion and preventing his escape. The centurions aligned themselves in a symmetrical formation as they lifted the platform under Smartillion, carrying him towards his permanent location.

“AS FOR YOU, INANIS…” Cavnos then said. “...A CORRUPT BEING SUCH AS YOURSELF IS NOT WELCOME IN MY DIVINE COURT, HOWEVER, I COMMEND YOUR APTITUDE IN RELATION TOWARDS THE SMARTILLION. I DO NOT DEAL IN SMALL MATTERS SUCH AS YOURSELF. LIBRO IS YOUR TRUE JUDGE, NOT I. LEAVE AT ONCE. YOU ARE DISMISSED.”

“This is fair.” Inanis uttered in a low deep voice. “Thank you, O great eternal one, Cavnos.” He said while performing the bow.

Inanis rose and his form began to disappear, his consciousness dissolving into connected fragments, which were then warped away to the front gates of the Shadow Plains, Inanis’ home realm, in which Inanis then took a single step forward and collapsed onto the ground.

An armored sentinel, watching the grounds from a tall watchtower a short distance away spied the slumbering god and immediately left his post, weapons drawn just in case of an enemy encounter.

“Your highness!” The sentinel shouted, attempting to shake him awake. “Inanis! Have you been hurt?”

In an instant, the guard was blown away by Inanis’ arm that swung out and made contact with him.

“Do not touch me.” The evil god said with an emphasis on each word. “I am fine and unharmed.” Inanis replied as he got up.

His voice was more clearer.

“My inquiry to Cavnos was a success. Our Smartillion, or rather, _the_ Smartillion was ordered into banishment from this place. Never shall he return, lest he be destroyed by Cavnos or his armies for breaking divine contract.”

The armored sentinel frowned in his lack of understanding. He had never heard of such a “Smartillion” before.

“Forgive me, your darkness, but while your success brings yet another victory to our lands, I must ask what is this… _small trillion_ you speak of?” The guard inquired.

Inanis shot him a cold look, almost disturbed at the lack of knowledge that his own watchman had.

“First off, in order to answer your question, for how long have you been within my ranks?”

“For approximately five hundred years.” The guard answered, failing to grasp how the question was related.

“In the last five hundred years or so, our lands were in the midst of many various conflicts. Can you name some of the major ones?” Inanis asked, his voice an eerie calm.

“Of course! I was involved in almost all of them. There was the war against the legions of Infernatus, a brief but devastating attack from those warriors of Terra Oculum, and who can forget the conflict between our realm and the Idoscians-”

“Do you not grasp my point?” Inanis interrupted.

“I’m afraid I do not follow. You did ask me to list the conflicts that transpired within this realm, correct?”

“You are correct, but you are missing something, a key component of how these wars were started in the first place. You’ve been in my ranks for around five hundred years, more than six times the lifespan of a human mortal...maybe perhaps you are but a young soul compared to mine, but this does not excuse you from _not knowing the name of my former advisor, the Smartillion itself!_ ”

“Gracious, your highness, spare me your wrath! Forgive my unknowing! I had no idea of this and was under the impression that these conflicts were initiated by your own hand!”

“You are correct in your notion. I suppose that I did end up taking the Smartillion’s advice, but if it were not for him, our numbers would be tenfold what they are now in these times. The Smartillion used underhanded tricks to deceive me on numerous occasions. I became somewhat irritated at his lack of...boundaries. The sheer lengths that he would take to ensure his plans were worth merit grew too far out of control. Thusly, I employed a higher power than Libro, calling upon the judgement of that Grand Eternal One, Cavnos, the deity of creation incarnate, to judge him for his crimes. Compared to a being of such high rank, I am nothing, but he too knew of my ills and it was only through that I was able to finally be rid of him.”

“So…” The guard spoke again. “...with that one gone, you will take upon his role and...advise yourself?”

“Listen to yourself talk nonsense!” Inanis spat. “There is no one with a position higher than I. There is no one to advise me. I can do whatever I wish and whenever I please without anyone offering anything. I need no second opinion. I AM the opinion. That is the way matters work in my domain. If one has a penchant to do as they wish, they will take care to do it themselves. That is the true way, unless it involves mass rebellion or harm against me, then in that case, I’ll cull the herd without a moment’s hesitation. I can always find more.”

The evil god stopped and took in a fresh breath, continuing to speak.

“I appreciate your concerns regarding me…” Inanis said as he lifted a hand to telepathically open the large black gates in front of him. “...your efforts do not go unnoticed.” The evil god said as he walked through the entryway.


	2. Chapter 2

“Inanis…” Smartillion grumbled under his breath. “The supposed leader of the Shadow Plains. Sigdros, were he still around, would be baffled at just how odd things have become. Granted, I’m certain Sigdros looked at me the same way Inanis does. That’s all I am to those gods, an unstable fool roaming the realms without any purpose. They don’t understand me, none of them do! Even chaos has some form of structure, but I guess eons of leadership will eventually take its toll sometime...” The Smartillion shouted, making his voice clear. “I JUST WISH THAT I KNEW WHERE I’M GOING!”

Seconds pass and a disembodied voice came forth from one of the centurions.

“Cavnos made it clear that we are forbidden to discuss the location of where you are and where you are going, but know this - we are not under oath to discuss the nature of where you might be-”

“DON’T MAKE ME SUBJECT TO ONE OF YOUR MIND GAMES! IF YOU CAN’T TELL ME, FINE! IF YOU CAN, THEN TELL ME! SIMPLE AS THAT!” The Smartillion responded with a loud yell, interrupting the voice.

“Cavnos ordered a large number of Inanis’ craftsmen to construct a firmament into which you will be imprisoned for the rest of your days. Had the order not been applied, we would have collectively thrown you into the eternal void to atone for your crimes. Thank your gods for Cavnos’ mercy.”

“UGH! THANK YOUR GODS FOR CAVNOS’ MERCY MY ASS!” Smartillion exclaimed in a mocking voice. The centurion did not reply.

The journey was then carried out in silence. Neither the Smartillion nor the centurions uttered a single word, until what felt like an eternity later, the movements of the centurions slowed and coasted to a stop. Waiting for the Smartillion to make a move, one of the centurions sent rapidly a ball of lightning onto their captive through the chain, which startled him, waking him up in a mad frenzy.

“WAKE ME UP TO ESCAPE THE SILENCE OF MY DREAMS, WHY DON’T YOU?” The Smartillion yelled. “IF I COULD CLIMB, I’D SCALE UP YOUR CHAINS AND KICK ALL YOUR ASSES ONE BY ONE!”

“Just go in and drop him in the void. It’s not like they ask where we take them after.” A centurion said nonchalantly.

“How about we _don’t_ do that and stay true to our oath. I hate this as much as you do, but it’s not like we have any other option right now...you know, because we literally need to go back for Cavnos’ next court hearing.” Another replied.

“YOU DO KNOW THAT I CAN HEAR YOU, RIGHT?” The Smartillion yelled from below.

“Fine, fine, but we don’t have anything to lose.” The former centurion said back to the other disregarding the Smartillion’s statement.

With a loud scraping of metal against metal, the centurions all reeled in their chains, freeing their captive. The platform that the Smartillion was situated upon was dropped onto the center grounds of the newly created realm with a reverberating crash, damaging nothing on impact. The airships then turned away from the grounds and went on their way.

The Smartillion stood there, the anger stewing inside of him, saying nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

In the far reaches of the universe, in a distant land, a lone soldier walks through the desert, fighting the powerful winds that gracefully erase and hastily reform the landscape around her.

"There is never a dull mission, even if I've done it over and over. This is because it gives me a chance to say something different every time." The soldier thought. "However, this is getting to be quite...boring. Having the audacity to come back yet again? Where's the fun in that?"

She had been given orders that there was an anomaly, a demon, that needed to be destroyed before it had a chance to continue its own orders from its leader. The reason that she had been given a mission of this variety, was that she had already dealt with this demon in particular more than once. She already knew what to do, and how quick this would be.

The soldier, battling the sandstorm's brutal force, arrives in front of an old abandoned temple made of solid brick and mortar in the middle of nowhere. The sun, now blocked by the enormous temple, casts an ominous, dark shadow on the sands below. She sighed as she looked at the large medieval wooden door, large enough for a small group to come through all at once, yet smaller than a royal castle's door.

The iron rings that functioned as the handles were covered in dust.

She strained her shoulders as she unsheathed her sword, Ciemnanoc, from the scabbard on her back. The sword had a sharp crimson blade with a black ornate hilt and handle that accentuated the markings on the sword's blade, a pattern of thorns and vines etched by a master craftsman years long ago, would have been more prominent if it wasn't for the sandstorm. Readying her free hand, she opened up the door ever so slowly.

The sounds of the ancient hinges creaked in agony alongside the crackling chorus of the ancient wood now disturbed from its resting state.

With a solid stop, the doors stayed open. The soldier tried to see what was inside, yet it was too dark to visualize anything within the darkness. The only object visible were the old broken tiles on the ground, worn out by the passage of time.

Cautiously, she stepped inside the temple, quickly turning back as the doors creaked to slowly close with a loud thud. Turning forward again, she continued onward, her eyes adjusting to the lack of light.

"Where's Mavris? He should've been here ages ago." She thought.

Then, a lone candle lights up in the corner. A small, but bright orange flame appeared in a holder affixed to the wall. Soon, more followed as the whole temple room began to light up with the candles' color. This was not the color of warmth, but of darkness, as ironic as that may be.

A dark figure sitting at the altar was barely visible. Turned around, its face not visible, the soldier already knew who it was.

"You've got to be joking..." She thought again.

Steadily, but wary, she walked towards the cloaked figure, passing by ancient statues of men and monsters. These statues each had a shining gold plate at the bottom of their stand, their purpose unknown. Yet, these stone structures had menacing glares etched on their faces by their creator to denote power, or perhaps as just a record that they existed, yet no more.

Slowly, the figure stood up and turned around to face the soldier, yet had the dark hood of the cloak covering most of its face.

"Of course...you've arrived precisely on schedule..." The cloaked figure uttered.

"Gordoom..." The soldier remarked. "...a voice I haven't heard in a long time..."

"Same to you, Alise..." The cloaked individual replied.

Gordoom took a breath and exhaled.

"I suppose you are going to fight me again and send me back to the Shadow Planes?" He said, his voice dark and growly.

"That is correct." Alise responded, adjusting her sword with a single hand. "I must fight you to restore the natural order. We do not need crooks such as yourself giving rise to sinister deeds."

"It's in my nature." Gordoom retorts as he turns around to light two more candles at the altar, illuminating the single wall in front of him.

As the fires began to burn brighter, a large red banner with gold accents on its border became visible. It had strange runes and eldritch designs never before seen by the eyes of man, except to Alise.

He approaches the altar and places his hands directly on the open flames, wincing as it forms burning holes through his palms and then, receding to a thick black smoke as he casually pulls away from the burning embers. He watches his hands as the damage from the flames heal instantly as he clenches both his fists.

"I am a vessel for the Ancient Strands. They breathed their life back into me...and now..." Gordoom rips off his cloak, revealing his gruesome, torn, and demonic face. "...I live again..." He says as his exhales with exuberant force.

Alise looked upon him. His face was the only thing damaged. As for the rest of his body, it was alarmingly toned and healthy. His azure armor was now fully repaired; it shined as the embers flickered on the walls. With courage, she stepped forth closer to Gordoom.

"Those strands should not give life to such a fool." She said raising her sword. "Manipulating them can potentially kill you...or worse." Alise said with a grim tone.

Gordoom looked at the fire, then the red banner affixed to the wall. She stared directly at Alise, his irises colored bright green, the mark of a demon, but this act didn't faze her. He took notice of her resolve, and chuckled to himself slightly.

Alise spoke again. "Already, I can tell that you are hopelessly unstable beyond what small power you can handle from within."

Gordoom flashed an ugly grin, his demonic fangs jutting forth from his lower jaw.

"This is not a sign of instability. This is enlightenment!" Gordoom yelled, his entire body trembling as the power from within him shook. "It is beyond mere mortal comprehension! I will tell you this once more...I do not fear death, Alise. You kill me, I am then reborn anew. If you so wish to follow orders, do so. Banish me where I now stand!"

Alise turned her blade towards the demon.

"Consider that done." She said calmly.

Gordoom laughed with his head towards the ground.

"You...you cannot oppose me. I've made solace here for one reason and one reason only. This..." He opened his arms, turning around slowly, taking in a long breath. "...is a hotspot. This is a rift of sorts that will give me back the artifact that they stole from me."

The soldier nodded her head in disapproval.

"It was not yours, this artifact that you described. You stole it, Gordoom! You seek nothing but a hollow dream. It has been destroyed by the Guardian!"

The demon sighed contemplatively and spoke once again.

"Fine. So be it. Without it, I guess I'll have to resort to...other measures to get what I so rightfully desire." With a flash, Gordoom opened his palm and black razor claws grew in place of his fingernails. "The rift belongs to me and Dark Lord Jodd."

She readied her blade, standing to fight. The whole temple was then filled with a clicking sound that slowly morphed into the snapping of bones. It was coming from Gordoom.

The demon fell to his knees, violently convulsing on the temple floor, and suddenly, he laid still as sharp thorny growths appeared on his skin. He turned his head, flashing his demonic green eyes, and swiftly jumped to the rafters.

However, this action happened in less than a second, and was too fast for Alise to register. She scanned the floors and the walls and looked up towards the ceiling. Gordoom was clinging to the center portion that was sturdier than the rest. She pointed her sword at the monstrosity above, ready to strike.

"I've had enough of useless prattle! Let us fight!" Gordoom shouted, his voice echoing off the walls.

He let out a yell as he dropped down to the floor. As he landed, he narrowly avoided the swing of the soldier's sword. Alise ran her fingers on the blade's edge with her free hand, making the sword glow magenta.

"It's always a trip with you, isn't it?" Alise said mockingly.

The demon kept his distance. He remembered their previous encounters and how she would use that blade to tear through his armor. There was no open spot to where he could strike, so he climbed the walls, accidentally tearing down the large banner in his wake.

The banner succumbed to the flames, as the fire now raged within the temple. A peculiar blue glow enveloped the flames and tore open a hole in the fabric of reality.

It was the rift.


End file.
